WHAT TO IMAGINE

by Yusuff Uthman Adekola

What to imagine by Yusuff Uthman Adekola – Shortlist (Top Five) of the 2018 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Poetry Category)

Imagine you were a fish
Placed on a sandy line between water and land,
Feeling the caressing touch of life on one end
Yet feeling the peeling scorch of death on the other..

Imagine. Just imagine. 

Imagine you were a goat
Tethered to a stake where a guillotine lurks unseen,
Savouring the painful delight of amputated freedom
But before your bleating doubt lies a mountain of cassava…
 
Imagine. Just imagine.

 

Imagine you were a bulb
Dangling and dancing to the wobbly rhythm of the Abiku,
Celebrating your glowing garment for a second swiftly murdered
But soon mourning your drowning light for a million faceless years…

Imagine. Just imagine. 

Imagine you were a pot
Twerking to the sweltering me(a)lody of searing flames,
Spitting grief through a cloudy rise of curly steam
Yet spraying the aroma of hope into hungry nostrils…

Imagine. Just imagine.

Imagine you were
The only molecule of air amongst a swelling family of heat,
The only pond of water on the fiery face of a sprawling desert,
The only one-legged lion in a den of legless lions,
The only green leaf amongst a sea of yellowing leaves…
 
Imagine. Just imagine.
Imagine all these,
But never imagine you were a lonely human
Bound by the fetters of national tendrils of spikes and spites,
National tendrils unworn only with the politics of connections,
Or else you shall worship the haunting ghost of slain salaries…
 
Perhaps imagine. But don’t imagine this for long.

 

 

WHAT TO IMAGINE

by Yusuff Uthman Adekola | POEMS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yusuff, Uthman Adekola writes to reflect his society. His poems have appeared in a few literary/non-literary journals and websites like Praxis Magazine, Ngiga Review and more.
He also does poetry performance and a bit of spoken words. He has performed his poems in few events across Nigeria and has made the shortlist of or won certain poetry contests.
He believes in the use of art for social change.

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